The present invention generally relates to an electrical connector assembly, and more particularly to a high speed modular connector configuration.
A wide variety of connectors have been proposed for various applications, one example of which is the single connector attachment (SCA) type plug and receptacle connector. SCA series 1 (SCA-1) and SCA series 2 (SCA-2) connectors are used today. The SCA-2 connectors are available in 20, 40 and 80 pin position configurations and contain through-hole contacts or compliant pin contacts arranged on a predetermined centerline spacing. The SCA-2 connector plugs are available in vertical and straddle mount, while the SCA-2 connector receptacles are available in right-angle, vertical, press-fit vertical, extended height press-fit vertical and extended height vertical arrangements. These SCA-2 connectors are compatible with SCA-1 board-to-board connectors.
However, conventional SCA connectors have met with certain limitations. As data transmission speeds increase, the conventional SCA connectors are unable to maintain a desired signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) and experience undue increases in interference such as in crosstalk. Today, conventional SCA-2 connectors support transmission speeds of up to 4.25 Gigabits per second. As the transmission speed increases above 4.25 Gbits/sec, the SNR decreases and crosstalk increases to levels that significantly degrade the signal quality.
Conventional SCA-2 connectors retain the contacts within an insulated housing of the connector utilizing a “stitched design”. In a stitched design, the insulated housing is formed first with an arrangement of passages through the housing. Contacts are then inserted through the passages into the housing. The stitched design creates an uneven surface environment surrounding each contact as the housing touches the contact at certain points and does not touch the contact at other points, thereby exposing regions of the contact surface to air. The uneven surface environment undesirably impacts the impedance characteristics of the contact, particularly at high data rates.
Further, conventional SCA-2 connectors utilize contacts that include multiple curves and bends along the length of the contact. The curves and bends undesirably impact the signal characteristics of the contact, particularly at high data rates.
A need remains for an improved receptacle connector that is configured to be backward compatible with conventional SCA-2 connector plugs, yet is able to carry data at transmission speeds higher than 4.25 Gigabits/sec and up to at least 8.5 Gigabits/sec.